The Longest Night
by LuminationPresenter
Summary: Sequel to Dragonpox, commencing soon after the end of term. The winter solstice is approaching and dark forces are at work in the magical world. The Gryffindor girls are in for their most horrific adventure yet.
1. Chapter 1

**The Longest Night**

**Author's Note:** _This is a follow up to a Harry Potter fanfiction I once wrote. This sequel however, treats the Potterverse lightly and has different types of magic. All the important characters are my own. Sally-Anne Perks and Charlotte 'Charli/Lottie' Moon are best friends. Sally is a kind-hearted and sensitive eleven year old girl who sustained a magical affliction at the very beginning of the fanfiction with the result that she has green flesh ie green skin and blood. Charlotte is a brash and bossy eleven year old girl who befriended her. They are both in Gryffindor House at Hogwarts. The fanfiction included very loose parallels to the first Harry Potter book, but took place over the course of just one term. In November, the Gryffindor girls confronted and fought two dark witches, 'Phobia' and 'Nausea,' who intended to unleash a magical plague on the school. The dark witches are sisters, but their relationship paralleled that of the Gryffindor girls – Charlotte bosses Sally around a lot. Nausea bossed and intimidated Phobia in a completely shameless fashion. Nausea is very much a female variant on Voldemort... enough said!_

_The first two chapters are in the first person and the present tense and narrated by Charlotte. Charlotte is the eldest of three sisters. Her younger two sisters are named Vicky and Celeste. It is set on the 21__st__ December, immediately after the Gryffindor girls' first term at Hogwarts._

_**Chapter One:**_

There's a light falling of snow outside in the gathering gloom. It's exasperating how short the days are. Hardly better than in Scotland. I leave my bedroom which I had once been so pleased to have all to myself. I had been glad not to share with my sister Vicky any longer. But now I don't share with Sally and I am feeling empty and frustrated. I said I would help with the Christmas tree. I traipse downstairs. Mum and my sisters are decorating the tree, though I am not sure how much Vicky and Celeste are helping. Mum is trailing her wand over the tree creating glistening pink bubbles. She turns as I enter the living room and smiles. "Lottie! There you are darling. You can put the firebird up."

"I want it, mum – let me," whines Vicky shaking her auburn curls. Her voice is really of the pitch to go through my head. As bad as Lavender Brown's.

"Hush Vicky, don't be a selfish girl," mum chides her.

"Yes, shut up your stupid whining Vic," I urge. "Don't we have more sugar canes mum?" I ask, but Vicky breaks out again;

"Mum! Did you hear Lottie...?"

"Come on girls, don't quarrel," sighs mum. "Look, here, have these spare sugar canes." She hands a sugar cane to both of us. I take out the firebird. The jewel bright bird spreads its wings and swoops from my hand and snatches a golden apple from the Christmas tree. It will enact it again every day. The golden apple will grow back soon. I suck on the sugar cane. It's the stripy kind that we only use for Christmas trees.

"Want one," says Celeste holding out a chubby little hand. She has just been sitting and playing with a string of golden tinsel.

"Babies can't have sweets," says Vicky in an annoying, condescending tone.

"Shut up Vicky," I tell her.

"_Mum _can you hear Lottie, she's being horrible..." I grip Vicky by the shoulders and shake her with a warning to stop whinging. Vicky shoves me. I am shocked; my eyes widen. I never had to put up with this kind of thing during term time. Sally always did whatever I said without wasting time on arguing... Now I can really appreciate how dismal things are without her.

"Girls, stop that," says Mum sharply.

"Yesh, stop that," says Celeste in a passable imitation of a stern voice.

"I'm sick of being back here!" I exclaim. "If Sally were here things would not be so spectacularly boring."

"Lottie!" Mum says and I can see her bottom lip tremble. I decide that it's best to leave the room for a while.

"Come on Celeste, let's go to my room," I suggest, taking my youngest sister by her little pink hand and leading her out of the room.

"Let's," agrees Celeste. When we get to my room I sit on my bed and bounce her on my knee.

"You've really grown," I say fondly and kiss her golden curls.

"I'm sad you've been a' school sissy," says Celeste. I sigh.

"It's not been so bad really," I reply, lost in thought.

"How you make tha' bad witch go 'way?" Asks Celeste suddenly.

"Nausea? That harridan didn't stand a chance against Sally and I." I smile as I reminisce about my best friend. "Nausea won't be making any more trouble. Don't worry Celeste I can protect you from any dark witch."

"You were in Gryffin'or wiv Sally?" Asks Celeste.

"There are other Gryffindor girls. But who cares who they are?" I tell her.

Celeste is becoming restless and slips to the floor. There is another thing I miss about Sally, she never got bored with my company. She always knew when I just wanted to sit quietly or when I wanted to talk or be more active. I lie face down on the bed and watch with half closed eyes while Celeste rifles through my soft toys. "Hey, leave that one," I order, snatching away Sally's old seal. I close my eyes.

And then –

And then... Suddenly a hideous image flashes in front of me. It is a skull framed with filthy hair with rags of flash adhering to it. The eye sockets burn red like glowing coals. I yell and sit up.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

"Wass'a matter sis?" asks Celeste peering at me. I can feel a sense of lingering horror.

"I sensed something..." I tell her. Since Sally and I became able to communicate with one another by thought I have also felt more aware of those around me. I don't know how better to explain it. Sometimes I have very strange and vivid dreams. Now I know that I have sensed something that really really scares me. My skin crawls just thinking of it. Even Nausea didn't creep me out this much.

I clutch Celeste's small hand for reassurance and pick up the toy seal in the other. I close my eyes and concentrate. I feel a sense of flying forwards and then – I am with Sally. I feel like I'm clasping her hand again. And I am relieved. "_Sally, you've got to come to me, I'm really not feeling good right now."_

Her thoughts return and it is as though I can see her wide eyes looking into mine with her anxious expression. "_Wait dear, I'm coming_," she is grasping the crystal eye, the magical artefact we found on November 1st. I concentrate along with her, combining our will power and joining it with the energy of the crystal. She feels like she is squeezing through a tight tube, compressing her tight and then – she is here. The steady, silvery light of the bedroom night lamp causes her black hair to take on a sparkling jade hue. Celeste releases my hand. "Is tha' Sally?" she asks wide eyed. Sally's dark green lips twitch to form her characteristic smile that I know so well.

"Hello," she says to Celeste. Even with Celeste she is a little shy – as she always is outside my society.

"_I was really needing a friend with me as well," _she tells me, slipping her hand in mine.

I glance through the window and see the clouds drifting across the Moon, then squeeze Sally's hand. I feel complete again... even though I had not realised something was missing. Sally kisses me on the cheek. I realise how restless I had been. That must be what was causing me to feel so out of sorts... "_Night time shouldn't stop us having fun," _I tell Sally, "_let's have a look around Harrod's_." Sally feels some trepidation, but doesn't waste time arguing, she just smiles and nods in agreement. That is one of the reasons I fell in love with her. She always has the good sense to agree with me without question at any time. We hug and I feel the silky smoothness of her hair on my cheek. And as easily as a sigh, we teleport away from the house to start an adventure in the freezing night.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

_Scene: The Ministry of Magic, the auror office. _

Commodus Darvill, the head of the Auror office, checked to ensure the vault was secure. The dark witch who had threatened Hogwarts the previous month was currently trapped in an everlasting crystal, but her eventual sentence was still a matter under consideration. While most of the auror office got to leave the office at night, he was to remain here until the dawn. On the longest night of the year no less. It was curious how he came to be working for the Ministry as a law enforcer in this era. Once he had secretly been a Death Eater, posing as a low ranking auror all the while, but since the Death Eaters had always operated in the greatest secrecy, no one else knew this. Unless Voldemort himself survived, but that was impossible. He felt no compunctions about his role now. The Death Eaters had lost. Their war was over. He intended to act the role of an auror now, for the rest of his life.

He re-entered his cubicle and raised his wand ready to light the lamp and dispel the gathering shadows. Suddenly he gave a start. A hideous apparition had just materialised in front of him. A witch? Surely impossible... It must be an illusion. He stood quite still. The apparition appeared to float, inches above the ground, wrapped in a black cloak staring back at him. The face was that of a woman, framed with filthy hair. But it was hideously decayed, the desiccated flesh drawn tight over the skull. In the gaping eye sockets a smouldering fire burned. The lips peeled back over yellowed teeth in a parody of a smile.

"_Greetingsss I have been waiting."_ A sibilant female voice seemed to echo through his mind.

Immediately he jolted into action and pointed his wand at the horror. With a flash, a spell to dispel magical conjurations issued forth. But it had no effect. The terrible being remained as she was, floating in the air before him.

"_Aren't you handssome?"_ She hissed, and lifting a claw like hand, she placed a long, sharp nail underneath his chin. Immediately he caught a horrendous stench of bloated corpses and human putrescence. He tried to yell but the creature's burning gaze held him rooted to the spot.

"_Don't resissst, you have an important role to fulfil," _she urged_. "You should have to anssswer to no one. With my guidancce you can take your rightful place. The posssition that iss now occupied by that fool, Fudge."_ He glared back at her, feeling himself inwardly agree. _ "You deserve to exact revenge for the defeat of the Death Eaters. I will guide you." _As she goaded him he felt a sudden surge of anger against all those who had tried to keep him from his true ambitions. _"Look outssside the cubicle."_ She commanded.

As if in a trance he left the cubicle and caught sight of a new recruit to the psychic division of the auror office. A girl of 21... he remembered the head of her division had affectionately nicknamed her 'Billie,' although he could not recall her real name offhand. She beamed as she saw him. Evidently she could not see the spectre that hovered at his side. A naturally exuberant girl, she had a childlike curiosity about the world around her that endeared her to most. "Billie," uttered Darvill with some difficulty. "I have chosen you for assistance in a mission vital to Ministry security. If you would follow immediately..."

They apparated out of the Ministry complex into the freezing London streets. Darvill was aware all the while of the terrible ghost at his side. She was guiding him to her lair. The area from which her psychic force emanated. The girl chattered incessantly to Darvill, but he was hardly listening. "There's been an unusual disturbance in the psionic flux for days sir, is that the lead? Sir?" She cocked her head and looked at him with quizzical dark eyes.

"This is the place," replied Darvill, ignoring her. They had entered a gloomy alleyway where the light of the muggle streetlamps did not reach. There was a flight of steps leading down into the cellar of one of the houses. "Something's not right sir," said Billie cautiously. She glanced fitfully around. In the dark he could hear her breathing quicken. She held up her hand and a warm, golden light flared in her palm, illuminating her pretty round face and almond eyes. "I can sense a presence of a terrible evil here, sir. It's like nothing I ever imagined before."

"Everything's fine," Darvill assured her. "And that is to be expected. I'm taking you to see an immensely powerful dark witch."

"What! Without backup? Sir, have you lost your mind?" Exclaimed Billie.

Wordlessly, Darvill struck her with a stunning spell. She had never expected an attack from him. Her eyes closed and she slumped onto the grimy floor of the alley. The golden light went out. Darvill lifted her in his arms and carried her down the stone steps and into the cellar. The place had an overpowering, fusty reek that put Darvill in mind of an underground dungeon. He raised his wand and a faint light issued forth, illuminating an emaciated old witch who sat slumped in a chair beside an old stone table. The spectre reappeared before him more terrifyingly vivid than ever. She pointed at the old witch with a skeletal finger. _"Poor Xena, sshe has ssuffered in the furtherance of my causse. And that iss good... ssuffering iss good... but her life forcce is very nearly spent. She deserves her reward... it was sshe who found me by searching with her mind. I might have been dissincarnate and powerless forever if she had not formed a psychic bridge to the physical world. But the power of her mind iss limited... the mind of the girl you carry hass so much more potential. Lay her on the table, Darvill."_

Darvill laid Billie carefully on the table, securing her arms and legs with conjured ropes.

"_Now go, back to the Ministry and releasse Nausea, the dark witch. She will sserve us too." _Urged the spectre.

"Right then," said Darvill turning to leave.

"_You may call me... Deliria, oh delectable one."_ Hissed the phantom. Darvill left the cellar, heading back to the Ministry complex.

Billie groaned and her eyelids flickered open. She found herself bound to the stone table. "Where am I...?" she murmured.

"_Awake my precious girl, but don't sstruggle,"_ urged Deliria, looming over her. Billie gave a shriek and began to thrash and struggle. Deliria pressed a claw like hand to her forehead and Billie felt it... so cold and clammy. A terrible foetid reek of decaying flesh overwhelmed her senses. The fire of Deliria's eyes flared. _"Be mine preciouss... you have no other choice."_


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

_Scene: The Ministry of Magic, Department of Magical Law Enforcement. _

_**Author's Note: Alexandra Petersen, head of the auror psychic division is often called 'Alex' by her friends.**_

Alexandra Petersen, head of the auror psychic division was at that moment engaged in conversation with Rufus Scrimgeour, deputy head of the auror office. Suddenly, through their psychic affinity, the horror of Billie's plight struck her. Under normal circumstances, her demeanour was as calm as she herself was beautiful. But now she gave a strangled gasp in mid sentence and her face went a deathly white. "No! Billie! Fight her Billie, keep her out of your mind!"

"Petersen, what's the matter with you?" barked Scrimgeour.

Alex could feel Billie's agony as the foul spirit forced its way into her mind. In a flash she realised where her friend was... and then their connection was lost. Deliria had found a new host; in Billie. Back in the old cellar, Xena sprawled to the ground, her life ebbing away. Billie lay, still bound to the table, but her wide open eyes were now black and empty as windows opening into nothingness. Deliria had conquered completely. A new wave of psychic force now emanated from her lair; an evil on a greater scale than anything Alex had ever known. The lights in the Ministry department all winked out. Each of the aurors felt the groping tentacles of an unwholesome power worm into their minds. At that moment Darvill entered the room. _"She is the only one who knows the whereabouts of my lair, kill her!"_ Deliria's hollow voice echoed through his mind. He raised his wand and there was a flash of sickly green light, but Alex had been ready. Anticipating the curse he would use, she projected a barrier of defensive magic that encased her in sparkling light so that the full bane of the curse was deflected. Using her remaining energy she disappeared from sight with a crack. _"She'ss gone, never mind her now, she won't lasst long. You have other matterss to attend to," _Deliria told him.

Darvill held up the crystal that contained Nausea and poked it with his wand. Immediately it cracked, and there was a flash. A witch, tall and skeletally thin stood amongst the aurors, her wild black hair billowing around her. She peeled back her lips in a hideous grin. A red gleam appeared to smoulder in her black eyes. "Greetingss." She addressed the assembled aurors. "I have been out of commission for a while, but now I am back and now I will take charge."


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five**

A great darkness fell upon London. The cold of mid winter's night intensified. A frightened stream of magical folk fled out, seeking the refuge that Dumbledore organised at Hogwarts. The stream quickly became a trickle and then there was no further escape from the doomed capital. The fugitives spoke of the treachery of the aurors and the insulation of London. Rufus Scrimgeour and Madam Bones fled the Ministry that night, seeking sanctuary with Dumbledore. They told him how the aurors who remained had been enslaved by the ethereal demon that had taken over the city. They told of the head of the Auror office who had opened his soul to the corruption and how he had forced Cornelius Fudge, Minister for Magic, to crawl and lick and commit unspeakable acts of abasement, before finally carving out his heart. Darvill had released the captured dark witch and now sought to turn London into a powerbase for the fiend. Into a necropolis.

An uncanny black pall spread over the city. It seeped into the very fabric of the buildings. The muggles succumbed to despair and intertia. Dementors now swooped over the metropolis, spreading nameless fear and subjugating the population. Dawn never came. Darkness and freezing cold prevailed.

The Gryffindor girls had been at Harrods when the unnatural darkness set in. Sally had been wanting to look for a book section, but all such considerations had to be dismissed when darkness and despair enveloped the whole city. Now all they could think of was to find a way out of London and how they fervently hoped they could rejoin their families who had fled to Hogwarts. They reasoned that Dumbledore would maintain some fortification at Hogwarts. But the insulation of the city meant no more apparating out. Since they weren't home at the time the Ministry fell, they did not receive Dumbledore's urgent warning and had sought escape too late.

"_Why hasn't the crystal eye worked_?" Sally wondered. The tears that trickled down her green cheeks froze in the bitter cold, leaving trails of ice. They were creeping towards Bank tube station, seeing it as a possible place of refuge, nowhere else presenting itself. The spell of despair over the city threatened to crush their spirits. They could sense the poisonous, probing tentacles of Deliria's psychic force, as though it were groping around at a distance, vaguely aware of them, but not so precisely as to be able to ensnare them. They passed a muggle shop, its windows full of televisions on display. The screens showed nothing but static, but suddenly they flickered and pictures swam into focus. The hideous, decomposing face of a witch became clearer and clearer on each screen, its yellowed teeth bared and its eyesockets burning with a searing light. "_**Good morning citizenssssss, for morning it is although you could be excusssed if you did not realise!"**_echoed the terrible voice of Deliria.** "**_**It iss a day as black and chill ass my heart. If you go out, wrap up warm, but be warned mugglesss! The curfew iss still in place. The aurors will perform the avada kedavra cursse if they ssee you and that would be a shame. There are sso many more interesting ways to die."**_

"_What are we supposed to do?"_ Sally sobbed. "_We're lost. Those poor muggles...! and they'll – they'll kill us if they catch us."_ She squeezed Charli's hand and her friend embraced her protectively. They felt a moment of relief as the despair that had threatened to crush them began to lift. Sally wrapped her travelling cloak around her friend as well so they both got the benefit of the combined warmth from their bodies against the bitter cold. "_I can't believe the aurors betrayed everyone! That the Ministry would go over to that abomination so easily!"_ Charli's indignation on the subject was strong.

"_I don't think they can control what they do anymore_." Sally reasoned. "_They're under the dark witch's power. It's like they're living inferi_."

"_We're not affected_," Charli retorted.

"_Deliria can't have unlimited power or she would simply put the hex on everyone in the country_," Sally replied as she pondered the matter. She brushed her dark hair away from her face and rubbed her cheek. "_Perhaps she can only control part of the Ministry, at very most_..."

Charli held up the crystal eye and it gave a clear steady light. Sally smiled. "_You can always give me hope you know that? I think I probably can make it as long as I am with you._" They set off again through the dark and deserted streets with a renewed sense of purpose. As they reached Queen Victoria street there was a pattering of footsteps coming along the road. They turned and saw a muggle girl of their own age hurrying towards them. They looked at her with interest. Mostly the muggles just cowered in their houses or in other places of refuge, subject to the arbitrary brutality of the Ministry that was in turn subjected to dark forces... "Do you have food?" she asked, "I'm lost and really hungry."

"I've got an energy cake," said Sally slipping a gloved hand into her pocket.

"Hang on," said Charli aloud. She continued to address Sally by means of their telepathic link. "_We can't turn ourselves into a soup kitchen, we'd never last. The whole city is up against it, just like she is!"_

Sally's lip trembled. "_She's lost! And she might not have eaten anything since it started. Can't she come with us? Dumbledore or McGonagall would know what to do then."_

"_Oh all right, maybe she can come a little way, we'll see how it goes,_" replied Charli.

"Here," said Sally to the girl, handing her the cake, which the girl then proceeded to eat ravenously.

Sally smiled. "What's your name?" she asked.

"Rhidi," replied the girl.

"Do you want to come with us Rhidi? We can find our way to Hogwarts together, I mean, find our way together?" Asked Sally.

"Yes, thank you I would like that," replied Rhidi.

Rhidi appeared inadequately clothed against the intense cold. "Are you OK, are you cold?" Asked Sally, then realising how superfluous the question was added, "I mean, are you too cold?"

"Never mind, let's just keep warm by moving shall we?" Said Charli.

The three girls hurried in the direction of Bank tube station Charli leading the way.

When they arrived at the top of the stairwell they were struck by the absence of any lighting. Charli held the crystal eye aloft and concentrated. It glowed with an even brighter light. "OK, it'll be best if we hold hands," she announced. Suddenly there was a crack from the road nearby. It was a party of aurors apparating. They heard the curfew announcement reiterated and saw a searchlight flare nearby. "Quick," Charli hissed and they hurried down the steps and smelled the stale air of the underground tube station.

Sally swallowed. "Will they come after us?" She asked.

"They don't usually care unless you go out onto the street," replied Rhidi.

"They may make an exception in our case," said Charli indicating the stairwell behind them. The searchlight flashed down the stairs, sending a strong beam of light into the pitch dark station. "Oh they want us, alright..." Sally gulped. A witch came gliding down the stairs. Her ghastly face was so pale it seemed to float like a grinning lantern in the darkness. Her pitch black hair and dress were scarcely visible in the gloom. Her wicked, black eyes fixed on the Gryffindor girls as she gave a terrifying smirk.

"Well well little bratssss, it's been a while," hissed Nausea. "But once again you are in my territory and I have the upper hand."


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six**

The girls stood petrified for an instant, but suddenly Sally and Charli knew what they must do. They clasped hands and concentrated on their desire to protect one another. Charli held the crystal eye aloft. It glowed with a brilliant silvery light, like a tiny full moon. It projected a shining beam at Nausea who shrieked and staggered as the clear light flared around her.

"Don't you learn from your mistakes – weirdo?" Charli called.

But the dark witch was not beaten. She rose to her feet, a murderous glint in her eyes. "Jusst wait till I get hold of you," she hissed, pulling back her lips to bare her teeth. "Your trickss won't help you then." The three girls felt panic rise in them and they turned and ran. The dark witch shrieked and flew after them in hot pursuit. Rhidi easily kept pace with the young witches. They wondered how it was possible for her to maintain her energy, without innate magic to sustain her. The crystal eye still cast a glimmering light, illuminating the way onwards. They cast long shadows in the stone tunnel. "I know of a way out, a secret way, follow." She told them, leading the way down a motionless escalator. At the bottom of the steel staircase they saw to their dismay, muggles slumped against the cold stone walls, wrapped in rags and emaciated. Sally gave a squeak and a sob. "_How could they come to this so quickly?"_ Charli wondered, her eyes widening. "This way," said Rhidi, her voice unsteady. They rushed into the dark stone tunnel of the Northern line. There were no trains. The air was cold and stifling. Particles of dust and filth were much more concentrated down here than at street level. They heard the terrible voice of the dark witch echoing through the tunnels. Evidently she was still in hot pursuit, aware of the direction they had taken. She called out to Charli; "I'll tear off both your friendssss' colourful pelts brat, and then I'll teach _you_ a lesssson only I could envision."

"Don't stop," Charli panted. They followed Rhidi off the platform and onto the bare stone beside the rail.

"Careful, one of these is electric," panted Sally. Rhidi headed into the suffocating blackness of the tunnel and the girls followed her. There were squeaks and scuffling as mice fled before them. Rhidi kicked at an expanse of bare stone wall. It began to move with a groaning sound and creaking sound revealing an entrance to an underground cavern that was lit by an eerie blue-green glow. There was a shining light at the other end of the cavern. A pool of what they would have presumed was water, but it gave of an iridescence that could only have been magic. "You are witches I believe, you go first and see if you can make it safe," Rhidi told them.

"How did you know about this, muggle?" Asked Charli, "oh never mind." She gripped Sally's hand and pulled her towards the pool holding up the crystal eye. The same thought flashed through their minds as they gazed at the surface of the water that was as smooth as a mirror. They had to jump and then concentrate on sealing the way shut forever.

And then –

There was a shriek and Nausea was there with her bone white fingers around Rhidi's neck. She hooted with demented laughter as the girl choked and gurgled, her brown eyes bulging from their sockets. Sally screamed and made a movement as though to go to the muggle's aid, but even in that terrible moment, Charli knew the only thing that could be done. With a wrench she dragged Sally back and shoved her into the pool – into the magical gateway that led from that terrible place. And holding up the crystal eye released all her reserves of magical energy. The crystal gave out a blinding flash and there was a terrible crashing as the stalactites at the other end of the cavern cracked and fell to the floor, burying the dark witch beneath them. As more ominous cracking sounded directly above her, Charli gave a flying leap into the pool after Sally and the cavern vanished from view.

**Author's Note:** _It is not that easy to kill a dark witch. _


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven**

Charli found herself deposited in a rough stone tunnel. In the light of the crystal eye she saw Sally slumped against the rocky wall, gasping and sobbing. "_Everything's going to be alright Sally_," she told her friend, though her own teeth were chattering. She gathered her friend in her arms and Sally clung to her shaking with sobs. "_The evil spirit isn't down here, you can sense that? She's gone_, _evidently she doesn't have enough power to permeate so far underground," _Charli urged. "_Don't you feel there may be hope after all?"_ Sally gulped and lifted her face to gaze to her friend's. At that moment they became aware of a call sounding in both their minds. A plaintive call for help. Sally brushed her dark hair away from her tearstained face and wiped her eyes. Very faintly a woman's voice seemed to call to them, but from a distance. She felt good... clean - nothing whatever like Deliria. She seemed to promise some means of combating the dread dark witch.

Sally hiccoughed. Her green face still glistened with tears, but she wasn't crying anymore. "_She needs our help, we have to go to her and not waste time."_

Charli nodded. They squeezed one another's hand. Without Deliria's presence instilling despair they both felt a renewed sense of purpose. They advanced cautiously down the roughly hewn stone passageway. Sally held the crystal eye aloft and it radiated a soft light, enough for them to see their way. Spiders and beetles crawling up and down the chiselled walls disappeared quickly into cracks and crevices on sensing the witches' approach. Mice and rats scurried along the floor ahead of them. Droplets of water dripped into small pools with an eerie plopping sound which echoed down the tunnel. The air was cold, moist and dank. After they had crept along for about five minutes, the tunnel opened into a large cavern. "_She's here_," Charli communicated to Sally, "_but she's not alone_." In the immense cavern before them, a crowd of tiny humanoids were gathered at the base of a colossal stone pillar that appeared to support the ceiling. They were chattering amongst themselves in tiny voices. They did not appear to have noticed the girls, despite the glow of the crystal eye. They all had lank colourless hair and greyish skin, with glassy black eyes that seemed to be sightless. "_Troglodytes!"_ Sally exclaimed to Charli. "_I've read about them. They can't see because they've lived deep underneath London in the dark for so long. They get about by feeling and smelling. They're gathered around her.._."

"A _loud noise ought to be enough to scare them away_," Charli decided, and taking her wand from her pocket, cast a spell that sounded like a gun shot in the stillness of the cavern. The chattering of the troglodytes increased in pitch and rapidity and they scuttled off into the shadows. The girls hurried over to the large stone pillar at the foot of witch the figure of a witch lay prone, wrapped in her robes. She was a statuesque woman of around thirty. Her golden hair framed a face that was deathly pale. Her eyes were closed. The plea for help emanated from her. Sally knelt down beside her and touched her cold cheek. Immediately they were able to communicate properly.

"_I am very glad you found me Sally_," her thoughts sounded in the girl's mind. "_I am Alexandra Petersen, head of the auror psychic division. That traitor Darvill struck me_ _with a magical blight that is draining me... I need more strength to burn it out of my system. I know how the foul spirit can be defeated and London set free... please help me..."_ Her thoughts sounded in both their minds: "_You must both hold my hands and grant me some energy... otherwise I'll die_."

"_I'd never let that happen,"_ came Sally's earnest reply.

"_If you can defeat the dark witches of course we have to keep you alive_," thought Charli fervently. They propped Alex into a sitting position and each girl clasped one of the auror's hand in her own. At the same time they both clasped each other's free hand so that the three sat in a ring with hands linked. Sally and Charli gripped the crystal eye between them, drawing strength from it and slowly they allowed its energy to pass into Alex. She opened her eyes, but could see nothing in the gloom. "Water," she croaked. The girls released her hands and Sally offered her the refilling water bottle they had collected from Charli's house. Alex gulped the water down eagerly. Eventually, after the girls had granted her more energy and given her a portion of their provisions she was almost fully recovered and able to get down to business.

"_Deliria, the demon that has the Ministry in its grip, was human once. An immensely powerful dark witch. The most feared dark witch for centuries. She was brought down by a team of highly skilled law enforcers, but has now found a way to conquer death. The foul spirit intends to kill every muggle in the city so as to spread despair and in that way, increase her power. But she has a weakness. Since she is dead she has no physical presence of her own. She is using a human host to form a bridge to the living world. One of my division-"_ Alex choked, stifling a sob. "_The only way we can beat her is to free her human host. My division aren't here. I can't do it alone. You two are going to have to help me._ _You already have psychic powers developing. That is rare, even amongst witches._ _I must give you intensive training in your psychic skills here and now. Together we can turn this battle around."_


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight**

Alex laid a hand on each of the girls' foreheads. Her own gift came as easily as a sigh, flowing into both of them and creating a permanent psychic link. "_Be one_," she told them. It was desirable practise in creating a psi-team to forge bonds of closeness between psychics, so that they could combine and amplify their powers. But closeness cannot be forced, nor shared by many all at once. It was great good fortune that these girls had such deep affection for one another. While her mind was in harmony with theirs' Alex learned all about both their personal histories. It had been that very affection between them that had awoken their latent psychic ability. Its first manifestation had been the psychic force they had used to capture Nausea the previous month. Alex smiled as that memory of their triumph eased the horrible tension she had been feeling. The three of them came out of their trance feeling happy and refreshed. Alex saw Sally-Anne give a wan smile for the first time. "_It's so comforting... to feel close. The exact opposite of being lonely."_

"_To use psychic ability is a joy in itself."_ Agreed Alex. _"One can appreciate the world in whole new ways. Now to be able to ward off attacks of fear which dark witches and wizards and creatures of the night will use you must be able to put up a psychic shield. Now confront your fears..."_ Suddenly the horror of the murder she had lately seen threatened to overwhelm Sally again and she began breathing hard, her eyes becoming glassy. Her friend put her arms round her in a protective embrace. "_Breathe with her, be in harmony with her,_" Alex urged.

Charli gazed into Sally's face. _"I'm always with you Sally,"_ she intoned through their special bond. The girls began to breathe in harmony with one another and Sally's eyes came back into focus making contact with her friend's. Sally's eyes did not always stay the same colour. Sometimes they were dark brown, other times a dark green. Charli knew them very well however. Even before they had formed their psychic bond she had been able to gaze into them and feel the special confidence they had in one another. Sally hugged her friend back and tears began to trickle down her face again.

Alex felt a twinge of regret that the two of them had such a terrifying prospect as the mission before them. But it could not be helped. This was their only chance to beat the evil spirit before muggle fatalities should become catastrophic and the darkness spread. She laid a hand on Sally's shoulder. "_Everything's alright dear. It is proper to respond to the hateful with fear and nausea..." _Alex scowled at the thought of the dark witch, promising herself that a reckoning would come. She rubbed Sally's back in a comforting fashion. _"I must give you both the benefit of my experiences. It is perfectly possible as you are both so young. I wouldn't attempt it with minds that have reached a certain age... As part of being an auror I had to learn the discipline how to focus on a goal no matter the adversity. Gaze into my eyes, both of you."_ The girls gazed into the auror's eyes which seem to enlarge to fill their vision – twin azure pools which they immersed themselves in. And then they both shared the benefits of Alex's trials and tribulations as an auror, in the psi-division. Although the three sat in silence the two girls experienced an inward turmoil. They closed their eyes as the extrasensory wave threatened to overwhelm them. "_Calm_," crooned Alex. And she emanated a message of hope for them both. For a moment their thoughts were fully occupied with their happiest memories. And with that, their seething minds were settled and Alex's knowledge and experience were theirs. They opened their eyes.

"_I see it now,"_ Sally declared. _"We have to focus on one thing at a time and save everything else for after the mission."_

"_And we are the psi-team,"_ Charli concurred. "_Our mission is to bring those psychos down."_


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter Nine**

"_Welcome home...!"_ Alex observed with a grimace as the three witches emerged into the freezing darkness that wrapped the benighted capital city. Sally-Anne trembled as she became aware once more of the demon somewhere in the distance; its ghastliness groping blindly for them from afar. Alex squeezed her small green hand. "_Psi-shield_," she told the two girls. The three concentrated on projecting a psychic defence to deflect the probing tentacles of the fiend's will power. It would become absolutely necessary as they approached the heart of her domain. They had emerged from the underground tunnels into waterloo station. A slow shuffling of feet caused the witches to turn. To their horror they saw an emaciated human child, his face frozen in a hideous grin, eyes bulging from their sockets, livid marks on his throat. The girls both choked back screams. "_Inferi! Typical dark witch weapon. Meant to attack the morale of all sane people_," Alex warned them. She lifted her arm and wordlessly cast a counter-spell to the evil magic that enslaved the child's corpse. It collapsed to the ground, like a puppet that had had its strings cut.

The psi-team made their way cautiously towards the station entrance. They were all able to see in the dark. It only required a sixth sense. There was a lone auror on patrol nearby, probably alerted to the area by Nausea.

"_OK, I can sense Dawlish coming this way_," Alex told them. The girls nodded. There was definitely a wizard approaching. "_Overpowering him should be easy. He was never the most competent auror_," Alex informed them. The witches projected an invisibility cover around themselves. The cover was an illusion that worked on the minds of others. It rendered them invisible to anyone relying on ordinary sight.

As Dawlish passed them Alex sent out a psychic blast, knocking him unconscious. She picked up his communicator badge and coughed, then spoke in an exact imitation of Dawlish's gruff voice; "Dawlish here, do you receive?"

"_You can imitate a wizard's voice very well_," Charli observed, arching her eyebrows.

Another wizard's voice sounded from the other end of the communication link; "Report."

"I have captured the head of the former psi-division, Alexandra Petersen. She is barely alive, and is suffering from a magical blight. Send an airship with the proper containment facilities immediately, the Minister will want to deal with her in person."

"Correct!" Replied the auror at the other end.

"_This is it, our one chance, all or nothing now. There can be no mistakes,"_ Alex warned the girls. "_Remain invisible_."

Moments later a loud whirring sounded from the station entrance and the silvery outline of the airship was visible. The three witches waited as two wizards in auror robes disembarked and ascended the steps to the station, dropping salt from their wands to melt the sheets of ice that caked the stone stairs. As the aurors entered the station the witches let out a blast of psychic energy with their combined powers, rendering both wizards unconscious in an instant.

Alex took the silver airship key from one of the aurors, who were now both slumped on the ground. Then the psi-team boarded the airship. Inside the craft was a room illuminated with a gleaming light. Alex inserted the key into the airship controls and the magical craft took off, leaving London far below. The city was visible on a screen above the airships controls. There were far fewer city lights than Alex would have expected on any natural night.

They cruised over the metropolis heading for the area where Alex knew Deliria's underground lair to be located. The source of the darkness. It was a derelict old house and the dark witch's unwilling host was held in the cellar. Billie lay, still bound to the stone table, wracked in fevered nightmare. A dark fire seemed to suffuse her. Her once pretty face was drawn and haggard. Her eyes were sunken into hollow pits. The evil spirit loomed over her, drawing from her life energy to send forth the probing tendrils of its terrible power. Suddenly Deliria became aware of an approaching threat. "_Something iss wrong_..." she hissed.

Some distance away Nausea was leading a group of aurors, carrying out the mass execution of the muggle inhabitants of a council estate. The dark witch clutched a muggle woman by the throat. "Come now, don't you want to ssee what your drab, brown face would look like adorned with sscarlet war paint?" Nausea taunted the muggle, waving her long nails in front of her eyes. The aurors were using the avada kedavra curse on muggles who had been evicted from the buildings on the estate. A lamp post had been put in place for the purpose and it gave forth a bloody glare onto the scene, complemented by flashes of green from various wands. A group of inferi surrounded the estate in a ring, silent and terrible.

All at once, Nausea became aware of the demon's unease and relinquished her grip on the muggle. "Ssomething must be wrong..." she muttered.

The airship completed its flight and hovered directly above the cellar. And at that moment Deliria became aware of an enemy in her domain. A hideous apparition flashed in front of Alex, a witch, shrouded in darkness. The eye sockets in her decomposing face burned with a livid fire.

"_You cannot hide, there is no defenccce for you, no esssscape_," shrieked the dark witch and the controls of the airship seemed to burn red hot. It was only in the mind, Alex told herself, only in the mind. She gritted her teeth and tried to dispel the illusion of pain...

And at that moment Delira became aware of more enemies, this time in the cellar. She immediately diverted all her considerable mental energy away from Alex and saw two young witches in the cellar right beside her human host. Schoolgirls. One held up a wand. "Please... end it..." groaned Billie, turning bleary eyes towards them.

"_NO_!" Screamed the demon, and she lashed out at the girls with her claw like nails. The illusion was dispelled. There were no other witches in the cellar at all. "_Decceived_!" Hissed Deliria, and for the first time, fear clawed at her black heart. Above her Alex wrenched at the controls of the airship and a terrible bolt of lightning issued from the light canon at the front of the craft. It smashed through the old house, blasting through the roof and all the floors and straight down to the foundations. The building collapsed in on itself and the cellar was buried. Billie was finally, mercifully, released from her torment. Death was her final release.

The demon's bridge to the living world was broken. A terrible shadow arose from the ruined building. The ghastly visage of Delira increased to giant size. It was sucked shrieking, high above the city, into a swirling vortex in the sky. The unnatural black pall that enveloped London was drawn in after it, relinquishing its grip on all the buildings. There was a concussion high in the air as the gateway to the void slammed shut and then clean, clear daylight shone over the city once more.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter Ten**

Back at the council estate Nausea blinked in the sudden daylight. As soon as that terrific concussion had been heard above the city, the inferi had all frozen back into corpses and collapsed to the ground. "The demon iss losssst!" breathed the dark witch, realising her own peril. The aurors, freed from Deliria's control, had begun to gaze around in horror at the carnage they had helped to commit. The muggles, realising they were no longer the object of hostility, ran away, back to their buildings.

"Get that monster!" yelled an auror pointing at Nausea. The aurors all raised their wands and Nausea, eyes swivelling frantically from side to side, disapparated. Just in the nick of time.

High above the city the airship headed in the direction of the Ministry Complex. Charli hugged Sally tightly. Sally was weeping desolately onto her friend's shoulder. The injustice Billie had received, added to the trauma the three of them had shared, affected her deeply. "_The mission is not over yet girls, remember_?" Alex urged, although her own distress threatened to overwhelm her. She switched on the airship's communication link, calling Madam Bones, formerly head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. The Ministry's rules of succession meant that she was now the Minister for Magic. "Madam Bones, we've booted the demon out of this world, my improvised team and I," she said in a trembling voice. "The insulation field is down, so I urge you to return and put out a nationwide alert for that lousy traitor, Darvill – also for the dark witch, with the title 'Nausea.'"

Darvill had sensed the demise of his terrible mistress. This time however, his allegiance to the dark forces was widely known and there could be no concealment or extenuation. All Ministry staff, instead of being enslaved, were now after him. Every escape route from the Ministry complex had been blocked. He had fled down to the department of Mysteries, but a group of aurors nearly cornered him and he barely made it into the rocky labyrinth of the primordial region alive. Madam Bones, who had just returned to the Ministry to assume her position of Minister for Magic, led the aurors in pursuit into the primordial region. Darvill hurtled through the dark, dank tunnels. A subterranean river flowed through the region. The rushing of its icy waters filled his ears. Unsuccessful experiments from the department's attempts to create non carbon based life forms by magic were hurled into the river where they always perished. Darvill turned a corner his head pounding. To have been granted London and as a next step, the world and then to have it all snatched away... Black despair tore at him. Madam Bones' voice, magically magnified sounded through the stone tunnels. "It's all over Darvill. Make it easy on yourself. Come quietly."

"Come quietly? Come quietly!" At that moment Darvill's mind broke completely and he roared with crazed laughter. Then, still gripping his wand, he plunged headfirst into the fast flowing river and was swept away.

A short time later it was nearly sunset. A pair of aurors stood outside the door to a flat high up in a tower block. Rufus Scrimgeour, now head of the auror office, apparated beside them, answering their request for help. "The dark witch is here sir," one of the aurors told him. "Look." Scrimgeour peered through a crack in the door. Sure enough, a gaunt witch with wild black hair was kneeling on the bare floor next to the corpse of a muggle man. She was gripping the corpse's temples and shrieking, "Rise! Rissse I ssay!"

"I think she's trying to animate the corpse," said one of the aurors in perplexity. "But she's had no success so far. Whenever we go in there she disapparates away again so I don't know how to pin her down."

There was a crack and a witch with shining golden hair apparated beside them. "Petersen!" Exclaimed Scrimgeour. "So glad you could make it. We are in need of your assistance."

"You boys can't do anything by yourselves can you?" Said Alex, shaking her head. She kicked open the door to the flat.

"Petersssen!" Exclaimed Nausea.

"Nausssssssssea!" Mocked Alex.

Nausea gasped. In the bloody light of the dying sun that streamed through the window, the vision of Alex seemed to blur and change before her eyes. There now stood before her a vision of a much older witch with silver hair, gaunt and terrifying, with steely grey eyes that seemed to bore into her.

"Mother?" Gasped Nausea, "no it'sss not posssible I..."

"Killed me daughter? Fifteen years ago, yes you did!" Bellowed the witch. "You abomination! Disgrace of my flesh. You won't get away this time, not now."

"I wass never like my milksssop of a ssister who would do whatever you ssay," hissed Nausea. "I can be rid of your tyranny a ssecond time!"

"There is something that all little girls should know!" growled the old witch in the doorway. "Matricides always get what is coming to them."

Nausea was about to shriek in defiance but found herself choking. Her very skin seemed to be tugging at itself as if trying to tear itself open and slough off. The dark witch collapsed to the floor and vomited blood. She gave a choking gasp as her joints were forced by a hostile will to turn against themselves and crack. She attempted to crawl away, but the old witch in the door way pounced and gripping at her evil daughter's dress, tore it open. And tore open her skin in the process, leaving nothing on the ground, but a pile of bloody bones and sinews.

The three wizards from the doorway blinked at the horrible sight. The old witch turned to them and Alex resumed her natural form. "You just witnessed the effects of my penance stare." She explained tersely. "Retribution for killing her mother was what the dark witch feared most. Family skeletons form powerful psychological weapons. The maternal-filial bond is something that can bring great joy – or with dysfunctional witches, potentially great disaster." And with that, Alex disapparated away.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter Eleven**

The dark forces were routed and it was now Christmas Eve. In London, the longest night of the year had lasted for nearly three nights and days. Madam Bones assumed the role of Minister for Magic and introduced her own staff to the Ministerial department. Alex was promoted to Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. All three members of the temporary psi-team were awarded the Order of Merlin First Class. But Alex desperately needed her spirits refreshed. She suggested that Sally and Charli meet with her in the celestial plane, the unreal and eternal realm which the most powerful psychics are able to reach in thought. The realm where everything that is remembered fondly is preserved in its full glory while growing ever greater. That night, after she had fallen asleep, Alex awoke again to find herself on London Bridge, in a city that was illuminated with heavenly light. From a short distance away, Sally and Charli waved at her beaming. Alex smiled, and stepped lightly over to meet them. "_If only London could really be like this_," said Charli awestruck.

"_It is in a way..."_ said Sally pensively, stroking her cheek. "_Certain aspects of it are, it's just so difficult to notice._"

A lump rose in Alex's throat as she saw a merry and bright young witch, with a round face and dark almond eyes run over to them beaming. The two girls looked solemn. "_Is it confusing being dead, Billie?" _Asked Charli.

Billie gave a silvery laugh. "_Not really_," she replied shaking her head.

"_You never deserved any of it_," blurted Sally, tears trickling down her face. "_It was monstrous..."_

Billie laid a hand on her arm. "_Injustices happen on Earth every day and there isn't always much we can do to change them."_ She said sadly. "_But you have helped right a monstrous injustice that afflicted the whole city."_

"_If I could bring you back..." _Sally sobbed flinging her arms around her.

Alex herself suddenly felt like a little girl in need of assurance. Panic arose in her stemming from doubt - that somehow there might have been some way she could have prevented Billie's death, no matter how remote the possibility...

"_Billie, did I do the right thing,"_ she begged. Billie and Sally-Anne broke apart. Billie gave Alex a look of such serene content that Alex felt soothed at once. "_Go and find out Alex. Continue to make me proud with all your future works my friend. You are head of the Department now. You have much more scope to fight the Dark Arts."_ Billie stood on tiptoe and kissed her friend on the cheek.

"_We'll all do our utmost to fight them in future. In memory of you Billie." _Charli assured her. Sally swallowed and nodded, her face glistening with tears.

Alex's blue eyes were watering as well, but she finally nodded, regaining her composure. "_The demon has been sent back to the void for now, but was not killed, not having been properly alive to begin with_," she said grimly. "_The vile spirit is licking its wounds, waiting for another chance to plague Earth, until we can find a way to destroy it once and for all. I have a hunch it'll be muggins here who gets the job... But remember_ _psi-team, you must be prepared to aid me again if necessary."_

The girls agreed to do so and the four clasped hands, sharing for a moment the joy that intermingling their cherished memories brought them. They opened their eyes.

"_A merry Christmas to you both_," said Charli, as she and Sally relinquished their hold and stepped backwards. "_Sally and I will be having it together. Our families have no choice but to allow that now_!" Sally smiled. Charli took hold of her slender, green hand. "_Come on Sally, let's go and find Rhidi like you wanted."_ And with that, the Gryffindor girls left the aurors to interchange their thoughts and feelings as they had done when both were alive.

**Author's Note: The end, for now.**


End file.
